1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in a first aspect to a bottle or can as a small container intended for consumers for the aseptic cold filling with beverages in a filling and scaling machine, comprising a manual seal to be operated by the consumer. In a second aspect the invention relates to a sealing cap for the manual seal of a bottle intended for the consumer for the aseptic cold filling with beverages in a filling and sealing machine. In a third aspect the invention relates to a process for the aseptic cold filling of a container by means of a filling and sealing machine, in which the container sealed with the manual seal is ready for dispatch. In a fourth aspect the invention relates to a process for the aseptic cold filling of a container in which the container is conveyed to a sealing device for the application and sealing of a manual seal and to a filling and sealing machine for the aseptic cold filling of a container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When filling small containers, such as bottles or cans intended for the consumer, with beverages, a considerable problem that arises is conveying the beverage with a minimum amount of genus until the container is sealed for dispatch. The term germs comprises all microorganisms, in put bacteria, which have a damaging effect on beverages. In the case of beverages such as beer or soft drinks tat contain alcohol and/or CO.sub.2, the problem is reduced due to the bactericidal effect of these additives. However, this problem is especially serious when filling non-alcoholic beverages and beverages with a low CO.sub.2 content and/or no CO.sub.2 content such as fruit juices, beverages containing fruit juice, milk, ice tea, and beer and wine with a reduced alcohol hot content. In most cases, these beverages are particularly endangered by germs due to their high percentage of nutrients, e.g. of sugar. In addition to this, beverages in small containers intended for consumers are only marketable with longer expiration dates. That is to say that, in this case, only an aseptic, i.e. completely germ-free, filling is useful.
So far, aseptic filling has only been generally adopted for the hot-filling of containers of the type mentioned above, The beverage is filled at germ-killing temperatures so that problems of sterility during the filling process arc not critical. The disadvantages of this are thermal taste influences and considerable heating and cooling expense. Also, the necessity of observing fixed thermalizing times, e.g. for taste reasons, is very difficult to adhere to, for instance in the case of system breakdowns.
A cold-aseptic filling, i.e. a filling under germ-free conditions with pre-sterilized cold beverages, would be preferable. This would enable the sterilization, which, for instance, is carried out thermally, to be optimized in special devices. Operational failures during filling are not detrimental to the beverage.
For cold aseptic filling, it is necessary to fill the sterile beverage into a sterile container under sterile conditions and to seal it under sterile conditions. So far, this has proved to be unachievable in the prior art for containers of the type mentioned above, and has only succeeded in the case of cardboard box containers for filling milk and fruit juices.
Feasible methods are known for sterilizing containers of the type mentioned above prior to their reaching the filling machine or at their processing station immediately prior to their being filled, i.e. either thermally, e.g. with superheated or hot steam, or with a bactericidal gas that is non-hazardous for food and beverage processing such as H.sub.2 O.sub.2. Filling under sterile conditions can also be achieved according to the prior art. However, the sub sequent closing or sealing of the container always requires conveying the container from the filling machine to a downstream sealing machine which screws a sealing cap onto bottles or presses a crown cork, i.e. bottle cap, onto them or closes cans by means of flanging or crimping a lid. flaring the course of this conveying, sterile conditions can either not be maintained at ah or can only be attained at unacceptable expense, as in the case of sterile encapsulation of the machines.
Filling and seating machines are known from the prior art in which the container is filled and subsequently sealed at one and the same processing station. The technical problems existing thereby, e.g. with the sterile introduction of sealing caps and the technically difficult screwing on of sealing caps or pressing on of bottle caps, i.e., crown corks, have practically never been solved.